The R&A is set to buy Lethamhill golf course in Glasgow for £200,000, providing local councillors give the sale the go-ahead at a meeting to be held on September 17.
According to a report on Glasgow Live, The R&A is planning to buy the course in the north east of the city and invest £10m in creating a new facility called ‘The Swing Zone’, which will include a pitch and putt course, floodlit driving range and indoor golf simulator, with the aim of widening golf audience.
Other proposals include a sports-related retail unit, changing facilities, a café/restaurant, gym, nursery and children’s film theatre.
Lethamhill would be bought by R&A Group Services, one of the companies set up by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews for commercial activities.
The deal could also see £25,000 paid to secure an option to purchase Littlehill golf course within three years.
Glasgow City Council is looking for alternative solutions for its six public courses due to declining participation and the challenging financial climate. It believes Lethamhill would be worth over £6m for residential use, compared to £256,00 for continuing use. At Littlehill, residential use has been valued at £5m and continuing use at £342,000.
If the R&A chose sell the site in the future, the council would be protected by an ‘overage’ condition, where any profit in excess of the cost to buy, develop and sell the site is paid to the local authority.